Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
SALEM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Salem Teachers Union Local 1258 is proposing a new calendar for the upcoming 2025-26 school year. The new schedule includes changes to some holidays, such as starting school before Labor Day, and giving students a half day on Halloween.
“Probably half of our students walk to school every day. There is a lot of traffic, especially any time between the middle of September and about a week after Halloween,” Chris O’Donnell, director of communications at Salem Public Schools, told WBZ NewsRadio.
The school also plans to no longer observe Good Friday as a day off, allowing for students and teachers to take days off for other religious observances.
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“And there’s many religions that are celebrated in Salem, so what we decided was we weren’t going to have any religious days off, except for Christmas Day which falls over the winter break,” Ann Berman, president of the Salem Teachers Union, told WBZ NewsRadio.
The School Committee will vote Monday on the proposed calendar changes.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@jamesrojas.bsky.social) reports.